Very Versatile
by ViaLethe
Summary: A Companion's job lies in becoming whatever is necessary, and Inara has always been good at adaptation.


Disclaimer: Words are mine, world ain't.

Timeline: Series through post-BDM

a/n: Written for the womenlovefest over on livejournal, celebrating female characters who aren't always the most appreciated by the fandom. The prompt used was: _five times s/he did someone else's job and one time s/he did his/her own.  
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><p><em>Very Versatile<em>

**I. Fly**

Inara let herself go limp and exhaled slowly, barely managing to lift one languid hand to push her hair from her damp forehead. "That was...quite exhilarating, really."

Wash grinned at her. "Yeah? You wanna do it again sometime?"

The tension lying thick on the bridge was cut with her laughter. "Flying my shuttle is enough excitement for me, I think. Flying the ship is best left to you, even if I did manage not to crash it this one time."

**II. Fix**

"No, not – _yes_, that's it, right there, don't stop!"

Wedged under _Serenity's_ stalled engine, doing her best not to wonder what, exactly, was dripping on her face, Inara twisted the – well, she had no idea precisely what she was twisting, actually, but it spun around between her fingers and was apparently very vital to the repairs Kaylee was attempting to make.

A few clicking sounds were accompanied by the sizzle of sparks and Kaylee's excited cry of, "Yes! We did it, 'Nara, you fixed _Serenity_!"

"Excellent," Inara said, her voice muffled by layers of engine. "Could you pull me out now? I love the ship, but I don't care to spend eternity as part of her."

**III. Foolishness**

Breathless, Inara tossed back her rumpled bedding.

"You didn't really think I'd be _there_, did you?" The thread of sound was barely more than a whisper, not meant to be pinpointed.

Making an extreme effort to hold back her giggles, Inara flung open the trunks holding her clothing, one by one. "I will find you, _mei mei_, sooner or later."

"You might not. I might have disappeared," said River's tiny voice, and Inara narrowed her eyes, venturing back towards the bed and sitting down on it with a carefully exaggerated sigh.

"That would be very sad, River, because – ha!" Leaning down until her hair touched the floor and yanking up the trailing blankets had, indeed, revealed River, flattened in the darkness beneath the bed. "Found you. Does that make it my turn?"

"Um," said a new voice, from the doorway behind her, "I'll just...come back later maybe, when you're done talking to your bed there." Looking backwards past her legs, Inara could just make out an upside down version of Mal, rapidly leaving.

"Don't hide in his bunk," said River, sticking her head clear of the bed. "He might get the wrong idea."

**IV. Funeral**

She sang over the graves.

Her dark coat was as heavy as her heart, but she sang anyhow, because that is the duty of a Companion performing a funeral rite.

It should have been the Shepherd's job, of course, but under the circumstances, she was the closest thing to religion, to compassion and absolution that they possessed. So she sang, her voice thin, but true and pure, carrying for the dead and for those still living.

**V. Fire**

"Huh." Mal stared down at the body behind him before turning his attention up to where she stood on the catwalk, hands locked around the grip of the gun she'd grabbed off an unconscious Jayne. "Were you aimin' for his head?"

Taking a deep breath to center herself and cover her unease, she nodded. "Of course. I always hit what I'm aiming for."

Mal grinned. "In that case, good shot. And look sharp, cause we got more comin' in. Oh, and I know it's gotta be tempting, but don't go shootin' me, alright?"

She rolled her eyes, but the time for banter had ended, gunfire ringing out once more, and she ducked, steadied herself, and took aim again.

**VI. Front**

"But – but – I thought..." the guard stuttered miserably, his eyes pinned to the pistol Inara had trained on his head. Or possibly at her cleavage; it was difficult to be certain. Still, watching as the others entered the station behind him, she suspected the pistol was the likelier option.

"Oh, please," she said. "Did you really think I was going to sleep with you?" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Zoe toss a keycard to Mal, heard the sounds of beeping and the clunk of an electronic lock being released.

"I – I thought you were a Companion," the guard said, as Mal appeared from around the corner, a shaken Kaylee and Simon behind him, released from the cell. "Isn't that what you do?"

She smiled, coldly, as the butt of Zoe's gun came down on the back of his head. "Only when I don't have another job to do."


End file.
